Amendments made to rental legislation in Sask. ahead of marijuana legalization

Those who smoke pot in their rented property after legalization may not be allowed to do so.

The provincial government introduced improvements to rental legislation to allow landlords the option to either allow or disallow the use of marijuana in a rental property.

Justice Minister Don Morgan says this piece of legislation is introduced for people who would be bothered by the smell or presence of marijuana.

“It’s where you have people living in close proximity, the right to possess or consume may well extend into the other territory,” Morgan says. “Landlords have a real issue with whether somebody’s growing, somebody’s using and what it is.”

Morgan says if people choose to smoke marijuana, it will be on them to ensure their rental property is pot-friendly.

“I(f you choose to rent, you may have to find a landlord that is marijuana-friendly,” Morgan says. “I can’t speak for landlords, and I don’t know what landlords would be, but we certainly heard from the Saskatchewan Rental Housing Association that that was an issue. They wanted to be able preclude it in circumstances where they felt (the dwellings were) close enough together.”

Morgan says he hopes this legislation can be similar to the tobacco ban landlords have the option of enforcing.

Morgan also says this legislation is not meant to discriminate those who smoke marijuana on their property, or to tell people where they can and can’t live.